Just a game.

Just a game.

A battle between Honolulu and Portland. For love. For laughter. For winning at art. The Granville Island Improv Centre presented the annual Throwdown International TheatreSports  Festival from January 9th to 27th 2019. The festival brought teams from around North America to compete in a series of shows. This event began casually with drinks and audience interaction, it became more tense as the actors grew competitive. In this one hour show, On the Spot Improv from Honolulu, Hawaii versed Curious Comedy from Portland, Oregon challenging each other’s improv skills, quick wit, and cool under pressure.

On each three minute turn, teams of three chose an improv game guided by the excited audience’s suggestions. They began with hilarious ideas like rotating roles in a love scene when someone rang a bell, or creating a dramatic episode in a mundane setting. A common technique was to use risky adult humour. Attention to dialogue and physical acting took a backseat showing the pressure to win was on. The audience and myself reacted well to comedy, but given the low ratings from randomly selected judges, funny anecdotes weren’t enough. TheatreSports™ are driven by competition, beating out the other team by taking risks and making them work on the fly. The whimsical freedom of what makes improvisation enjoyable may have been stunted by the competitive nature of this show.

As a dance artist, improv I see is movement based and unpredictable, it flows through collapse and suspense. TheatreSports™  brought this too, fleeting moments that were destructive, constructive, and everything in between. A competitive mask made this performance pressured and anxious, in all it’s awkwardness kept us on the edge of our seats. Competition often has a negative connotation in art, this evening was a great reminder to let go of expectation and enjoy the game.

Photo from: https://www.vtsl.com/throwdown-trounces-winter-blahs/